READ THE CITIZENS' VOICE

Digital Only Subscription
Read the digital e-Edition of The Citizens' Voice on your PC or mobile device, and have 24/7 access to breaking news, local sports, contests, and more at citizensvoice.com or on our mobile apps.

Digital Services
Have news alerts sent to your mobile device or email, read the e-Edition, sign up for daily newsletters, enter contests, take quizzes, download our mobile apps and see the latest e-circulars.

Article Tools

About 13,000 disabled Pennsylvanians earn an average of $2.40 an hour in subminimum wages, according to records from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The lower-than-minimum wage is legal, and since 1986, there has been no limit to how little the workers can be paid, according to PublicSource, an independent investigative news group in Pittsburgh and a news partner of Times-Shamrock newspapers.

Some argue that the low wages exploit and segregate the workers, while others say the nonprofit organizations that run workshops for the disabled would be forced to close if wages are bumped up to the state’s minimum of $7.25 per hour.

Locally, the White Haven Center, 38 individuals earn an average wage of $1.36 an hour under the subminimum wage provision from June 2011 to December 2013. CTC Manufacturing in Beaver Meadows pays an average of $2.85 an hour to 49 people employed under the provision. And at the former United Rehabilitation Services (URS) facilities in Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre, 307 individuals earned an average of $2.49 an hour, according to documents released by the department.

The federal government issues certificates that allow employers to pay the subminimum wages.

Steve Peterson, president of CTC Manufacturing, explained the guidelines.

“We are required by the (U.S.) Department of Labor to survey jobs that are similar to establish a prevailing wage,” he said. According to the department, employers determine the relative productivity level of a disabled worker and compare it to that of a non-disabled worker to determine a commensurate wage.

“Simply put, if the prevailing wage is $8 per hour and the worker with a disability receives a 60 percent productivity rating, the commensurate wage for that worker would be $4.80 per hour,” or 60 percent of the prevailing wage, according to information from the department.

Because of the set-up, about 3,600 disabled Pennsylvanians were paid under $1 an hour during the periods provided. More than 500 weren’t earning enough to buy a 25-cent gumball for every hour they work; however, about the same number of workers were being paid the federal minimum wage of $7.25 or above, PublicSource reports.

Peterson said the department visits the companies that employ disabled individuals. And employers must evaluate disabled workers’ productivity at least every six months, or whenever there is a change in the work, to ensure payment of commensurate wages.

As a result, rates change often. The lowest average at CTC has been less than $2 per hour.

“It’s not that any of us are in favor of paying less than minimum wage,” Peterson said, noting that the system should be changed, but in a way that won’t put nonprofits out of business and disabled people out of work.

The type of work often available to disabled workers is typically not skilled labor, and as such, prevailing wages are low to start. If wages are raised, nonprofits might be priced out of the market for contracts.

It’s a grave message, considering the unemployment rate among people with disabilities is double that of the rest of the population.

Some say the work programs provide more than just a paycheck; they provide socialization, training and purpose for people with disabilities.

The parent of an individual who had worked at URS in Hazleton understands why the pay rate there was low.

“It was a training facility that gave people skills that would hopefully allow them to enter the workforce,” the parent said. “Yes, the wages were lower but it was about the training and the socialization.”

The Department of Public Welfare has begun meeting with disabled workshop employers to discuss how to make community employment “the priority and preferred option,” spokeswoman Kait Gillis wrote in an email to PublicSource.

About 2,600 people in the state are receiving employment services, which include help finding jobs and job coaching, she wrote.

The department did not return telephone calls seeking comment about White Haven Center, which it oversees.

Some people need supervision that cannot be easily found in a regular job. Irregular hours could leave them without rides to work or care during the day. Further, because of high unemployment, the general population is taking up many low-skill jobs.

In other cases, disabled individuals do not want to jeopardize their government benefits and insurance.

For example, every dollar after $85 in earnings lowers Supplemental Security Income payments.

A proposed state bill would provide tax credits to businesses that contract with work facilities for people with disabilities. The bill has not moved out of committee. Its sponsor, state Sen. Pat Browne, R-Allentown, did not respond to requests for comment.

Groups advocating for higher wages and integrated employment have experienced a few victories in the past six months.

President Barack Obama specifically included workers with disabilities when he raised the minimum wage to $10.10 for people employed under all new federal contracts in a February executive order.

In March, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 got some teeth with new rules that, among other initiatives, require federal contractors and subcontractors to set an affirmative-action goal of 7 percent of employees with disabilities.

“It was never taken seriously and never enforced,” Bender said. “For the first time in my whole career, all these new companies are calling me, and I believe this is the thing that will finally springboard employment for people with disabilities.”

Another bill, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, was signed into law by the president on July 22 with measures that would prevent young people with disabilities from being funneled into subminimum-wage work.

Curtis L. Decker, executive director of the National Disability Rights Network, which opposes segregated workplaces and subminimum wages, said the provisions put pressure on schools and providers.

“I think we’ve become so used to this [workshop] model that we forget the vast majority of the folks in there could, with proper supports and training, function and make at least a minimum wage,” Decker said.

Moving people with disabilities out of institutions and into neighborhoods took an historic effort, and some groups believe the path to integrated employment will be much the same.

Jill Whalen, staff writer, contributed to this report.

We welcome user discussion on our site, under the following guidelines:

To comment you must first create a profile and sign-in with a verified DISQUS account or social network ID. Sign up here.

Comments in violation of the rules will be denied, and repeat violators will be banned. Please help police the community by flagging offensive comments for our moderators to review. By posting a comment, you agree to our full terms and conditions. Click here to read terms and conditions.